Ireland’s ascent to the top of the crime-fiction tree will reach new heights this week, when an anthology featuring the country’s finest thriller-writers is launched in New York on November 7, writes author and journalist Garbhan Downey.

Claire McGowan wanted to be a writer from the age of nine but never imagined she could do it for a living and so filled her days teaching and travelling. She tells Caroline O’Doherty about how she realised her dream.

Northern Ireland writers are beginning to use the Troubles as a backdrop for their latest work, says Declan Burke

CLAIRE McGOWAN